Electric primers have previously been used for the discharge of a variety of large military arms. With the development of electrically actuated firearms, it has been difficult to provide a primer that can be reliably activated by electrical current but without the risk of activation by undesired sources, such as electrostatic discharge, magnetic fields, electromagnetic radiation such as that emanating from electrical power lines and transformers and radio frequency transmitters while, at the same time, providing a primer of a size appropriate to small arms.